Ladies in the Field: Sketches of Sport Part 12

A punt has one great disadvantage.

In a lock full of boats, perhaps half the number of people do not know how to manage their own boats, and have not the least idea how to get out of the lock. Therefore they are apt to dig their boat-hooks into the nearest punt, if they can, and expect to be towed out. So, while looking out for a wooden bottom to the lock, beware also of those "boat-hooks fiends" who do not think it necessary to learn how to manage their boats so long as they can splash about with a pair of sculls, and trust to a punter guiding them safely out of locks.

Keep the pole between the punt and the side of the lock to avoid the greasy sides.

Double punting, that is two persons punting together simultaneously, is very effective on the river. To do this the punter may stand in various ways, but I consider the best is for both punters to stand in the stern, almost back to back, one a little in advance of the other, to set the stroke. This necessitates hardly any steering, for, with a pole on each side, the punt will keep itself straight if both strokes are of equal strength. In turning, the inside one should hold the punt steady, while the other pushes--the punt will then turn as on a pivot.

Some people stand at opposite ends of the punt, with both poles one side, but I cannot recommend this method, because too much weight is then thrown on to one side, and a punt will not travel well unless properly balanced. In all double punting little or no steering should be required if both work well together. But wherever the punters may stand, the most important point is to keep time--perfect time. This is a _sine qua non_ in all good double punting. Nothing looks so bad as to see two persons double punting when quite regardless as to time.

Both poles must be recovered together and in the same number of movements, otherwise it looks a scramble, and the poles appear to be of different lengths.

The principle of steering is, of course, the same in double punting as in "p.r.i.c.king" and "running," only that here the work is divided, the business of one being to bring the bow in, the other to take it out.

Punters must never interfere with each other's stroke, and never seem to be waiting. If the last stroke has been too strong, so that it has sent the punt out of the ordinary course, or not strong enough, so that she has run in, the punter should not wait till her fellow punter's stroke has corrected the fault, but should throw in her pole in time with the other, even if no pressure be required at all, just to keep the time. The strongest punter should be at the back, if there be any difference.

Punts vary from the heavy fis.h.i.+ng ones to the narrow and unsteady racing craft. But a useful punt for ordinary work is about 3 feet wide and 26 feet long. The seat is arranged about 3 to 4 feet from the deck, allowing just room for the punters to stand. This is, of course, intended for "p.r.i.c.king" from the stern. A semi-racer, to hold one person besides the punter, is about 22 inches or 2 feet wide, about 27 feet long. A racing punt about 16 or 17 inches wide and from 30 to 32 feet long.

Really the most important item to a punter is the pole, though many inexperienced people give all their attention to their punts, while they think almost any pole will do, in which they are very much mistaken. The pole is, if anything, more important than the punt itself. For my own part, I prefer to any other a made pole about 15 or 16 feet long. For hard work and long distances this is certainly the best. Great attention must be paid to the shoe. If the p.r.o.ngs be too close they will pick up stones continually, and probably split the pole or break. The best shoe for ordinary work is shaped something like a horse-shoe, but the p.r.o.ngs must not incline inwards on account of stones. The prettiest and most graceful shoe is one with rather long p.r.o.ngs, not too close, made of nickle-plated iron. The shoe should always be heavy enough for the pole. Poles are made of various woods, and steel tubing has been tried, but these, however, have not been found very practical. Larch poles are apt to splinter, red larch are better, but they are not very strong, and they are very difficult to obtain, while they are seldom quite straight. Bamboo poles are very well for a calm river, with little or no stream, but they are not much use for hard work, they are so light that they are always inclined to be top-heavy. All bamboos should have very heavy shoes, and even then they must be heavily weighted in addition. It is almost impossible to get them heavy enough at the bottom. A pole should sink at once, and not require pus.h.i.+ng down. It will be found that a bamboo has to be held down, or it will rise of its own account and float out, giving no time for the push. They are considered unbusiness-like by serious punters.

But sometimes at regattas they are found useful. The Henley course, for instance, is very deep all the way along the meadow side, even quite near the bank, therefore a long pole is necessary, and these are apt to be very tiring and heavy when punting all day. A bamboo must never be left out in a hot sun when it is wet, or it will crack between the joints and when put back into the water will fill, so that the water runs out over one's hands and arms. But of whatever kind the pole may be it must be properly balanced, and not top-heavy. The lightest punt will not make up for a badly-balanced pole. In racing this should be remembered. It is customary to "p.r.i.c.k" from the middle of the punt in racing. A stroke called the overhand push is much used for speed. After the first push is given, and the pole is bent with the chest, without moving the back foot, only the heel of the front one, and, turning the body, a second push is given. The advantage of this is that the punter is able to push twice without taking the pole out of the water, and a longer swing of the body is accordingly obtained. When women race, they do so in ordinary punts, not in racing punts. There are not many punting races open exclusively to ladies; in fact, as far as I can ascertain, they are only included in the programmes of the regattas at Goring and Streatly, at Wargrave and at Cookham, and the Thames Ditton and Hampton Court Aquatic Sports. At the Maidenhead and Taplow Town Regatta there is a Lady's and Gentleman's Double Punting Race, and there is some talk of a Ladies' Punting Champions.h.i.+p compet.i.tion being inaugurated at Maidenhead.

In spite of the paucity of punting races for ladies, however, there are several ladies in various parts of the Thames whose style and speed have won for them something more than local renown. For instance, at Staines, there are Mrs Hamilton, Miss Kilby and Mrs George Hunter; at Maidenhead, Miss Ethel Lumley and Miss Annie Benningfield; at Bray, Miss Maud Lumley; at Hampton, Miss D. Hewitt, who in '91 won the Ladies' Punting Compet.i.tion at the Hampton Court and Thames Ditton Aquatic Sports. In addition to these, there is Mrs Sharratt of Surly Hall Hotel, better known, perhaps, as Miss Ada Morris, the daughter of the lock-keeper at Bray, who has the reputation of being one of the best punters, if not the best, on the Thames. Some people punt Canadian canoes, but this, though pretty when well done, does not come under the heading of serious punting.

The practice of paddling punts is often indulged in on crowded courses, such as Henley in the regatta week, but this I need hardly say is never done by good punters. Even there it is far better to use a long pole.

In conclusion, I think I may say that there is no prettier sight on the whole river than a girl, neatly dressed, punting well and gracefully; but, like riding, it is an exercise which must be done well. A hot-looking girl struggling with her pole is a spectacle that must excite anything but admiration from either the river or the bank. Good style and ease, so important in punting, come only after much practice.

SYBIL SALAMAN.

THE END.